


Changed by the Fire

by still_lycoris



Category: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 19:05:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9198803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_lycoris/pseuds/still_lycoris
Summary: Charles thought he'd been careful around Jean but the coming of Apocalypse changed all of that.





	

Charles supposed that he ought to have been more careful.

But he thought he had been careful. He had thought that he was totally prepared for a telepath, that he knew just what he was doing when Jean Grey came to the school.

He had to work with her closely. He was the only one who could come close to understanding what it was like to hear all the voice, to cope with the burden of secrets that were not yours to bear. He had lived with it for years, he knew what it was and he could sympathise, he could guide. He and Jean sat together and he taught her the tricks, how to block and how to cope when you couldn’t.

He knew that Jean was lonely. Her talents scared the other children, she was isolated, even amongst the unusual and Charles understood that too. And she knew he understood and that helped her.

He was used to gently fielding the crushes that he read from the children. It didn’t worry him when he sense that Jean’s feelings were running that way. It was natural and it would fade when Jean met someone of her own age that could return those feelings. There was no need to fret about it.

Maybe he had even been right. But he didn’t expect Apocalypse. He didn’t expect to have his mind completely opened, to be utterly vulnerable. He didn’t expect to have to allow Jean so fully into his mind. As she was seeing him at his weakest, he was seeing him at her strongest, a towering fire-goddess that he had never imagined. She was _beautiful_ and he had never seen anything more glorious.

And then she was gone and he was dying. He knew he was dying. His body was quietly shutting down, unable to cope with the brutal changes that it had been subjected to. He was floating in the dark, sinking slowly away, not sure where he was going but not too worried about it really. It didn’t seem so bad, dying. Not after everything Apocalypse had done.

_No. You can’t die, Professor_.

She was in front of him, glimmering with flames. She looked different now in a way that he couldn’t explain. He stared up at her and she held out a fire-touched hand.

_Come back to us, Professor._

He took her hand, let her lift him and she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. Her kiss was physically hot, sending something wild that burned deep within him. He could feel it in the real world too, feel the fire restarting his heart and bringing breath back to his lungs. He wanted to hold tight to her, wanted to feel more, wanted this to carry on forever ...

But it could not. When he opened his eyes, she was just kneeling above him, her hand touching him very gently. None of the fire that he had seen only moments before but he knew it was still there, still beneath, still waiting.

Everything had changed around them and Charles knew that there would be no changing it back, no matter what the consequences.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 12dayschristmas


End file.
